Anole - some people call them lizards

"A little Anole is just a lizard, right?", someone asks in the tour group of Woodlands residents at Mercer Botanical gardens. Well, a lizard is generic for a number of creatures. We prefer to use the generic familiar names. This one is an Anole.  This term comes from the scientific genus name "anolis". Yes, this is what people generally refer to as a "lizard" and some are even called "chameleons", which is incorrect because they do not have the facility to actually change colors. Instead, the process is comprised of using three layers of pigmentation in the Green Anole.   It is a matter of turning "on" or "off" a layer. Many of them can change apparent coloration using this method and adapt to their surroundings. This one does so also, on a minor scale. It is not as adaptive as the Green Anole which can change from full brown to a full green. 

Among these flowers, there is plenty to eat. His long tongue can reach out  a couple of inches to grab its prey, usually an insect such as a butterfly or grasshopper. This species in an invasive one, generally spreading from south Florida where it first appeared, and displacing the Green Anole through the "survival of the fittest" competitive concept.   It his called the Brown Anole and does not change apparent colors as dramatically or completely as the Green Anole does. It as been in the USA for about 120 years.

The part under its chin is called a dewlap. It is colorful and expands as a courtship tool. Anoles lay one egg every couple of months. There are hundreds of varieties all over the warm world. They thrive in warm climates.

American Beautyberry - perfect native plant for The Woodlands

This is a plant recommended for your garden. It is a small natural East Texas Forest understory bush that produces colorful berries for birds. It's leaf is savored by deer. ¹ You will see it on about any casual walk along the paths of The Woodlands or in the forest, especially near water. This photo was taken at  Mercer Arboretum. The plant is tolerant to drought, but will thrive in moist soils. It blooms and produces berries all summer into the fall.  Its berries  can be used for food as well, but it is not recommended for anything but jelly. The flowers are ornamental and add beauty to the gardens as much as the berries do. Native Americans  used this plant for medicinal purposes including malarial diseases, fevers, dysentery, and colic. ²   One of the nice qualities of this plant is that it is also considered a wildflower, propagating  by seed as well as cuttings.  It is not too tolerant of extreme cold however.

  References:
¹ Texas Parks and Wildlife
² Easy Wildflowers

Broad Banded Water Snake

The Broad Banded Water Snake is one of seven nonpoisonous water snakes found in Texas. ¹ It is readily identifiable as this one (sorry for the poor quality. Will try to replace the photo later with a better one) was at Mercer Arboretum, near The Woodlands Texas. They live in trees, on the ground and in the water, searching for food. When small, they eat small fish by roaming the water with their mouth open. As they get larger, they move on to frogs and small shore creatures. This snake is harmless except it will bite like all snakes. In its mouth it excretes an anticoagulant, so a bite can take a few minutes to stop bleeding. It is not a poisonous venom. This species is sometimes considered to be a pet growing up to about 3 feet. It can be handled with care. However, it belongs to the wild and should stay there. It matures in three years and produces live babies. One will often find a banded snake within 50 feet from the shore of a lake, river or creek, or swimming in the water. Remember though that all snakes can and will swim. Not all snakes climb. Rarely does a poisonous snake climb into trees. The Banded Water Snake will oftentimes be found in limbs of trees overhanging a body of water.

References:
¹Watersnakes

Courtship of a pair of Giant Swallowtail Butterflies

This fairytale is my own of the Southeast Texas forest. One of our prize sightings here in The Woodlands and nearby parks and forests is the Swallowtail. This particular species, the Giant Swallowtail or Papilio cresphontes, is very prevalent at this time of the year in our area, that is, if we are not spraying for mosquitoes. This story is based on an actual courtship in Mercer's Arboretum on Cypress Creek. The photographs are from an observservation on a morning in late August.  These butterflies have quite a strong courtship that lasts for hours. I recommend viewing the large version photographs by clicking on each one. Hope you enjoy this in the context of a child's fairy tale...

Once upon a time, there was a lovely señorita butterfly called Bella. She was named that by her father who knew that some day she would be the most beautiful and grand butterfly in the park. When she grew up, she indeed was very beautiful. Her colors were outstanding. All the boys watched her when she flew through the forest. She would sail past  trees with lightening speed to find the right flower which would give her the sweetest nectar to drink. Each time she drank her nectar, she would think, my food is just as sweet as I am, that is what my mom says. So I must act my part to be sweet as well as beautiful.
Also about the same time as she was born, there was this guy butterfly called Handsome. He learned to dance in the air and do all sorts of acrobatics in the air from his dad. He admired his dad and wanted to grow up to be just like him. Yes, he did just that. Now he is a grand butterfly, admired throughout the park for his ability to fly and for his bright colors. He knows which flowers makes him safe and which flowers make him more handsome.  You can see in these photos that he is not much different than Bella.

Both Handsome and Bella have two sets of wings and use them like two arms. They can do amazing things with their wings. They can push the back wing down so that they do cartwheels or flips in the air. Handsome does especially good with that maneuver.

One day they met in the park and instantly liked each other. In this picture, they are meeting each other. "Hey, my name is Handsome. I've seen you around here. What's up?" Bella responds, "Nothing much. I've seen you too. What's up with you?" Then Handsome did a mid-air flip in joy, because Bella seemed to like him too!  When Handsome and Bella got to know each other better, Bella liked how many things Handsome knew about safety of foods and eating correctly. She also admired his skills in flying, especially his ability to do somersaults. Handsome liked Bella's gracious style. She glides though the air like a princess. She can change direction with ease. So Handsome thought to himself. "Bella would make a great wife and mother for my children." She would be the person for him all his life. How can he get her to say yes to marriage? - he thought. She will like him if he just is himself and dedicates his energy to her and takes good care of her. Little did he know that Bella was asking the same question. She  said, "how can I get  Handsome really interested in me? I want to get to know him.  I think he would be a great father for my children."   Handsome said, "Hey Bella, you want to hang out?" Bella said, "well maybe."

So Bella flew like a jet in the sky and soared to show handsome that she was pleased that he asked.  That surprised Handsome. He could not keep up! She came back. "Why are you so slow?", she asked.

Handsome had the right answer. He said, "I do acrobats best. You soar so beautifully. I know why your mom called you "Bella". Watch this. I bet you can't do this as good as I can! So Bella watched with great admiration as Handsome turned flips in the air with the skill of a great butterfly!   

So they hung out together and got to know each other very very well. They learned about each others family, what kind of flowers each other liked the best,  what they would like for the other to do for them, and many other things.

After a while, they both decided that they had made the right choice and were ready to have a family.

 

They played together and enjoyed being with each other.

It was time to have baby butterflies. And soon that would happen. They would have little caterpillars. When the caterpillars left the house, they out be out in the world on their own.

 

Then they got married and had children. Bella laid eggs under a leaf and built a house for the eggs.

And they lived happily together forever after in the great East Texas forest system.